Duplicated light source / ghost lights in photos - Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ Questions & Answers

Hello,
Today when taking photos I've noticed that light sources like lightbulbs and chandeliers appear twice in photo. It's hard to describe, but attached photos should clarify what I'm talking about.
I've checked on other phone, Honor 8X and it's same.
And here's my question to you: do you observe the same behaviour, or my device is flawed?

Shogun91 said:
Hello,
Today when taking photos I've noticed that light sources like lightbulbs and chandeliers appear twice in photo. It's hard to describe, but attached photos should clarify what I'm talking about.
I've checked on other phone, Honor 8X and it's same.
And here's my question to you: do you observe the same behaviour, or my device is flawed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd....I have to see if my phone does the same.
Are you on Auto mode?

SantinoInc said:
That's odd....I have to see if my phone does the same.
Are you on Auto mode?
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Click to collapse
Yes, I'm on Auto. I've gone also through pro mode settings, but none of them seem to reduce it.

Shogun91 said:
Yes, I'm on Auto. I've gone also through pro mode settings, but none of them seem to reduce it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And Honor 8x does the same? Thought that the camera lenses cover has some reflecting residue like oil etc...it is strange.

mzsquared said:
And Honor 8x does the same? Thought that the camera lenses cover has some reflecting residue like oil etc...it is strange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Honor does the same. Actually I've just checked LG V30 and Huawei P10 Lite, and it's almost the same.
I'm kinda shocked I haven't noticed it before.
Can you please check on your phones?
I don't know if it's worth using warranty with my Note 10+ if it's the general issue.

I took a direct photo of my desk lamp and there's nothing wrong, I'll try again later tonight using different angles/sources.
I googled it and this problem is widely commented on:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=phone+camera+ghost+reflections+of+light+sources

mzsquared said:
I took a direct photo of my desk lamp and there's nothing wrong, I'll try again later tonight using different angles/sources.
I googled it and this problem is widely commented on:
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=phone+camera+ghost+reflections+of+light+sources
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Click to collapse
Thank you for the link. So it seems like this can be considered "normal".
However I'm still curious what will be result of your tests. Please share what was the outcome, whether you were able to reproduce this.

It depends on the angle, sometimes you will see this, some times not, I have seen this in dedicated cameras as well

Thank you for your response.
As I'm testing it more, it seems very hard to take photo without ghost lights when not pointing straight into light source, attached few more sample files.
Maybe I'll get over it, if not I'll give it a go, and use warranty, they'll do something with this or not.

Hello,
That's amazing to see this post today, just the day i noticed exactely the same.
I noticed that when doing a video test, through windows stores (the room was in the dark, light going thru the little holes in the stores). I had exactely the same kind of little lights reproduced in the left quarter of the frame.
I thought it was due to the shape of the lens, some kind of light reflexion on it, but now i am wondering because that is the EXACT same thing as your description.
I would not send to warranty... since i had exactely the same 'problem'. I believe it is due to lens design.

mafy31 said:
Hello,
That's amazing to see this post today, just the day i noticed exactely the same.
I noticed that when doing a video test, through windows stores (the room was in the dark, light going thru the little holes in the stores). I had exactely the same kind of little lights reproduced in the left quarter of the frame.
I thought it was due to the shape of the lens, some kind of light reflexion on it, but now i am wondering because that is the EXACT same thing as your description.
I would not send to warranty... since i had exactely the same 'problem'. I believe it is due to lens design.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you have the same, but don't know how often you see these lights.
I can understand this can be seen in some conditions, but as I'm testing it more, I almost can't take any photo without it.
I've looked through YouTube reviews with some night shots and can't see it there.
Attaching last two samples, to not spam this thread, as maybe I'm now oversensitive on this
I'll go to the store today, and see what they'll say.

Shogun91 said:
Thank you for the link. So it seems like this can be considered "normal".
However I'm still curious what will be result of your tests. Please share what was the outcome, whether you were able to reproduce this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went on tonight to my favorite night photography places and the full moon was the perfect source of light to look into the "ghosting" thing. It's really easy to see what's happening with the light when moving the camera around its axis. Note 10 has a rather thick glass covering/protecting the lenses and the light entering the camera is being distorted by the inner and outer surfaces of the glass plate depending on the angle of entry.
I was having really boring Sunday today so I'm glad I found something to do because of that, and I even made a little drawing using the S-Pen(love the s-pen!) to illustrate directional changes of light while entering/exiting a medium of different densities (air/glass)

We know that light will get reflected by a glass at certain degree because of different density between air and glass. Basic physics. Our camera is made of multiple layers of lens with variables angle. So if 99% of light goes through the lens, 1% get reflected. We won't see it for normal light. But if the light source is very bright, even 1% will be visible on photo.
That's my hypothesis.

Happens all the time when facing a lamp light directly, with wide and zoom lens. But seems to be less visible with ultra-wide.

This looks like an internal reflection within the camera it's self.
Internal reflections are common on multi-element lens.
You pay big bucks for coated elements and engineering to suppress this effect in pro lens.
Internal reflections can also happen between the cmos sensor and any of the internal optics.
In the case the cover element is a prime suspect.
Lol, you can thousands for a pro shooting system and you will still find this.

Related

Dead Pixels anyone?

So I noticed last night while trying to take a picture in the dark (yeah I know it doesn't work lol) that my screen has close to 75 dead pixels in it. Is this typical of TP2's? None of the three G1's I've gone though had a single dead pixel. In fact, I have not seen a screen with this kind of deadness since the original PSP... Well I'm within my 14 days, so this one is going back to T-Mobile.
I think I may just wait for T-Mo to toss out the HD2, or what ever device they launch that will have the ability to utilize WinMo 7 upon release.
75, tha's a bit much. I have 5 on my tp2 and 2 on my hero. I am probably gonna get the tp2 replaced. They really don't bother me though. I really don't want to get stuck with a refurb
I wish that I had checked my first TP2 for them, but I had to send that one back as the automatic speakerphone didn't work. (Nor did anything that used the rotation sensor, like Need For Speed: Undergroud, obviously sensor version!)
The dead pixels bother me when playing darker games, or looking at darker pics. Also, I just installed a dark theme, and now it looks like there is water dripping down it (in a bad way) lol.
If my next replacement has any more issues, I'm just going to send it back and get out my half broken G1 again. It shouldn't be this hard to do a quality check before shipping.
HTC doesn't recognize dead pixels as something wrong with the unit, except if there's 3 (or more) dead pixels on an area not larger than 1cm^3 (one cubic centimeter). 75 totally is obviously quite alot. ;P
personally i have one dead pixel on my Swedish unbranded TP2, and just one dead pixel isn't really bothering at all, even if it, of course, would've been nicer without it.
What does "taking a picture" and "dead pixels" have to do with each other unless you're talking about the camera itself having dead pixels?
If you want to check the screen for dead pixels find something that displays solid black, white, red, green, blue... There are several "flashlight" programs that do this.
khaytsus said:
What does "taking a picture" and "dead pixels" have to do with each other unless you're talking about the camera itself having dead pixels?
If you want to check the screen for dead pixels find something that displays solid black, white, red, green, blue... There are several "flashlight" programs that do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
camera lenses cant possibly, not even in a million years, ever have pixels. thats just absurd.
taking a picture in the dark.
in other words, it was an all black screen when he/she:
1- took the photo in the dark
2- saw the dark photo.
that is when he/she noticed the dead pixels.
One dead pixel reporting here
Not a big deal...
I read somewhere about an app to correct this dead pixels
Anyone know more about this?
djinfamousflo said:
camera lenses cant possibly, not even in a million years, ever have pixels. thats just absurd.
taking a picture in the dark.
in other words, it was an all black screen when he/she:
1- took the photo in the dark
2- saw the dark photo.
that is when he/she noticed the dead pixels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we all know what djinfamousflo really means. The exact technical terms were probably not used correctly but the point is, you really can't come to the conclusion that you have dead pixels based on taking a photo in the dark and then looking at that photo. If that were the case, I would have several dead pixels myself. My photo taken in the dark actually has a couple of pale spots.
If you really want to test, you need to fill your screen with black, blue, green, and red. See if each pixel can display each color. Try it with the pics I've attached.
orb3000 said:
One dead pixel reporting here
Not a big deal...
I read somewhere about an app to correct this dead pixels
Anyone know more about this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you can fix a dead pixel (ie, if your screen is suppose to display white, and the pixel is black, then it's pretty much really dead).
But you may be able to wake up a stuck pixel if you have an app that rapidly continuously flashes red, green and blue.
I noticed them when I took a picture in a no light environment, and proceeded to test with my flashlight app. I'm within T-Mobile's 14 days, so I can get this one replaced, I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a wide spread issue.
Thanks for posts guys
How easy is it to spot a single dead pixel? Does it glare out at you and taunt you everyday, or is it something you rarely notice?
I assume "dead" means it doesn't display anything and "stuck" means it only displays 1 color always.
ohyeahar said:
I don't think you can fix a dead pixel (ie, if your screen is suppose to display white, and the pixel is black, then it's pretty much really dead).
But you may be able to wake up a stuck pixel if you have an app that rapidly continuously flashes red, green and blue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I´ll try that and report back
What is the app that rapidly continuously flashes red, green and blue?
fortunz said:
How easy is it to spot a single dead pixel? Does it glare out at you and taunt you everyday, or is it something you rarely notice?
I assume "dead" means it doesn't display anything and "stuck" means it only displays 1 color always.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty easy to spot if you splash the screen with red, green, blue, and white. Your "dead" and "stuck" definitions are spot on...
orb3000 said:
Thanks I´ll try that and report back
What is the app that rapidly continuously flashes red, green and blue?
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Click to collapse
Try this. But I couldn't get it to run full screen, so if your stuck pixel is on the top or bottom bars, then it won't work. You can however, slide out your keyboard and force the app to run landscape to cover more ground. But you're out of luck if your stuck pixel is in the corners.
khaytsus said:
What does "taking a picture" and "dead pixels" have to do with each other unless you're talking about the camera itself having dead pixels?
If you want to check the screen for dead pixels find something that displays solid black, white, red, green, blue... There are several "flashlight" programs that do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
djinfamousflo said:
camera lenses cant possibly, not even in a million years, ever have pixels. thats just absurd.
taking a picture in the dark.
in other words, it was an all black screen when he/she:
1- took the photo in the dark
2- saw the dark photo.
that is when he/she noticed the dead pixels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay.... So I obviously did not say a lens.
Second, taking pictures in the dark and checking for "dead pixels" is complete and utter nonsense. Flat out nonsense. Again, the ONLY thing that could POSSIBLY find is hot pixels in the camera sensor.
khaytsus said:
Okay.... So I obviously did not say a lens.
Second, taking pictures in the dark and checking for "dead pixels" is complete and utter nonsense. Flat out nonsense. Again, the ONLY thing that could POSSIBLY find is hot pixels in the camera sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, yes you can. In a low to zero light environment they show up just fine. Camera's don't have pixels. And the camera sensors are digital. They don't work like a screen. Thus when you power on your camera and go into a bathroom you will indeed see DEAD/STUCK pixels. (Assuming your device has any) AND I USED A FLASHLIGHT APP AFTER TO VERIFY. There is a significant difference between a dead pixel, and super low light pixilation that occurs from the CMOS sensor (That's what the camera uses to take a picture.) attempting to raise the light level.
Please if you don't have anything constructive to add, don't add anything at all.
I sent TP2 back for replacement today, and will try out number three. If the third one has issues, well I'll be going back to my G1 personally.
Oh yes - And I never TOOK a picture to find them, I simply noticed this while trying to take a night shot of some pumpkins, thus making the entire screen black. Now if I then took a picture and looked at it, it would show nothing, as the CMOS doesn't have dead pixels. I just NOTICED the dead ones while the screen was all black IN the camera APP.
Maybe that makes it clearer?
q426669 said:
Yes, yes you can. In a low to zero light environment they show up just fine. Camera's don't have pixels. And the camera sensors are digital. They don't work like a screen. Thus when you power on your camera and go into a bathroom you will indeed see DEAD/STUCK pixels. (Assuming your device has any) AND I USED A FLASHLIGHT APP AFTER TO VERIFY. There is a significant difference between a dead pixel, and super low light pixilation that occurs from the CMOS sensor (That's what the camera uses to take a picture.) attempting to raise the light level.
Please if you don't have anything constructive to add, don't add anything at all.
I sent TP2 back for replacement today, and will try out number three. If the third one has issues, well I'll be going back to my G1 personally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bolded your statement that you really should stick to, although perhaps you should replace "constructive" with "useful".
If you have dead pixels by viewing with a app that shows solid colors, you have stuck pixels. Using the camera in a dark room is not the way to find them.
And digital cameras don't have pixels?? The Tilt 2 has a 3.2MP camera. You can interpolate from there.
To revive a somewhat stagnant thread... if I take pictures on my TP2, there is one all-white pixel that shows up in every picture. Funny thing is it shows only when viewing previously taken pictures, it does not show up in the viewfinder before clicking the shutter.
And no, it's not a dead screen pixel... as I can zoom in on it and move it around.
So looks like a dead CMOS pixel.
quid246 said:
To revive a somewhat stagnant thread... if I take pictures on my TP2, there is one all-white pixel that shows up in every picture. Funny thing is it shows only when viewing previously taken pictures, it does not show up in the viewfinder before clicking the shutter.
And no, it's not a dead screen pixel... as I can zoom in on it and move it around.
So looks like a dead CMOS pixel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
View it on your computer; does it still show? Same place every time, again on the PC.
if its on a picture and not permanently on the screen, its not a dead pixel, its noise on the photo. web cams are notorious for little stray off color pixels. i dont think a camera phone is a proper replacement for a real camera. dead pixel and stuck pixel are the same thing. normally flashing black and white on the screen really fast will fix them but thats more for computer monitors. dunno how that would refer to a phone because ive only seen an iphone that had dead pixels, never on any other. if it really bugs you, it is a warranty issue and you can get your phone replaced.

Sun damaged camera sensor

Just an FYI not to be an idiot like me and take a picture of the sun. I now have a faint black speck on all of my pictures...
You can see it highlighted here: http://i.imgur.com/hatM0.jpg
Pretty faint in the picture, its way more obvious on my screen on the phone.
Post some pics... that sucks.
Oh man, that sucks. Might be worth trying for a warranty replacement from Samsung.
leyvatron said:
Post some pics... that sucks.
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Edited the OP with one.
Yikes, so sorry to see that.
...Really?
This works like this?
........I'm going to take some pictures of the sun tomorrow. I can't help but be skeptical. I'm pretty sure I have plenty of pictures of the sun, not that they turn out as anything more than lense flares.
OP, what were the circumstances? Did you just take one pic of the sun? Or did you take a bunch of them? An entire photo session of just the sun?
Damn, now I can't wait to try this...I wanna see HDR pix of the sun.
daneurysm said:
...Really?
This works like this?
........I'm going to take some pictures of the sun tomorrow. I can't help but be skeptical. I'm pretty sure I have plenty of pictures of the sun, not that they turn out as anything more than lense flares.
OP, what were the circumstances? Did you just take one pic of the sun? Or did you take a bunch of them? An entire photo session of just the sun?
Damn, now I can't wait to try this...I wanna see HDR pix of the sun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HDR pic was exactly what did this to my phone.
Since you have to hold the camera still for a few seconds, apparently thats enough to damage the sensor.
Trust me, DONT DO IT
You wouldn't do this even with a DSLR WITHOUT a special sun filter lens! Why in the world would you even attempt this?
Hey, you wanna see something really cool? Grab a magnifying glass and hold it up to the sun and check it out with your bare naked eye!
1BadHEMI said:
You wouldn't do this even with a DSLR WITHOUT a special sun filter lens! Why in the world would you even attempt this?
Hey, you wanna see something really cool? Grab a magnifying glass and hold it up to the sun and check it out with your bare naked eye!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lol'd for the way you laid it out in common sense...didn't think about that
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
So what would you guys recommend?
I'm thinking I flash back to stock kernel (get rid of the yellow triangle at boot), take it back to a Sprint store and play dumb?
Absolutely play dumb, You're average Sprint tech has no idea how to fix anything more than an earpierce. You'll be fine.
WhiteZero said:
So what would you guys recommend?
I'm thinking I flash back to stock kernel (get rid of the yellow triangle at boot), take it back to a Sprint store and play dumb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's kind of amazing how common this attitude of "please advise on how to commit fraud" is in this forum.
Ummmm, unless the sensor is organic, it really doesn't work like that. It's possible you damaged the microlenses around that area, but not probable. The camera lens is UV and IR blocked, so the light that actually does any damage is absorbed by those coatings on the lens. The second reason for those coatings is because UV and IR light can cause a color-shift in your images, which is generally undesirable for color-accuracy.
My bet is pure coincidence, or a dirty/scratched lens.
silversx80 said:
Ummmm, unless the sensor is organic, it really doesn't work like that. It's possible you damaged the microlenses around that area, but not probable. The camera lens is UV and IR blocked, so the light that actually does any damage is absorbed by those coatings on the lens. The second reason for those coatings is because UV and IR light can cause a color-shift in your images, which is generally undesirable for color-accuracy.
My bet is pure coincidence, or a dirty/scratched lens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pure coincidence that the spot is in the same exact spot that the sun was in the HDR pic I took? I think not sir.
WhiteZero said:
Pure coincidence that the spot is in the same exact spot that the sun was in the HDR pic I took? I think not sir.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK then. What time was the HDR pic, and the approx location of the sun? How many exposures and the exposure times of the HDR shot? Could you post the pics to picasa and keep the EXIFs intact?
I have insurance and will perform the exact same steps (even though I hate HDR). If the camera gets damaged, then it is not performing up to spec and I am not defrauding Sprint. How many thousands of HDR sunset/rise images have you seen and the camera has performed perfectly since? I am still skeptical.
I used to work with light sensors in a research capacity, which gives my skepticism cause.
I'm not a camera expert at all, but I only recently found out that bright light sources can damage your sensor. While trying to find videos of lasers at shows damaging expensive cameras, I happened across one that deals with a Galaxy S in particular:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcKLXVTAeOA
Here's a regular DSLR camera damaged: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0TgaGePhJA
Lesson: don't take your GSII out in a light saber battle.
silversx80 said:
OK then. What time was the HDR pic, and the approx location of the sun? How many exposures and the exposure times of the HDR shot? Could you post the pics to picasa and keep the EXIFs intact?
I have insurance and will perform the exact same steps (even though I hate HDR). If the camera gets damaged, then it is not performing up to spec and I am not defrauding Sprint. How many thousands of HDR sunset/rise images have you seen and the camera has performed perfectly since? I am still skeptical.
I used to work with light sensors in a research capacity, which gives my skepticism cause.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was the one and only HDR shot I attempted in direct sunlight. Was not sunset/sunrise, this was closer to high-noon sun with no clouds.
The HDR app took 3 exposures over the course of about 3 seconds.
WhiteZero said:
This was the one and only HDR shot I attempted in direct sunlight. Was not sunset/sunrise, this was closer to high-noon sun with no clouds.
The HDR app took 3 exposures over the course of about 3 seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I'll give it a go.
---------- Post added at 01:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 PM ----------
kiwiBeans said:
I'm not a camera expert at all, but I only recently found out that bright light sources can damage your sensor. While trying to find videos of lasers at shows damaging expensive cameras, I happened across one that deals with a Galaxy S in particular:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcKLXVTAeOA
Here's a regular DSLR camera damaged: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0TgaGePhJA
Lesson: don't take your GSII out in a light saber battle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typical lasers at a laser-light show have about the same intensity of the sun (1mW/mm^2). These are considered "eye-safe" as blink reaction will interrupt the beam before it can cause any damage. The difference, however, is the sun's intensity is across the light spectrum, while a laser is monochromatic (one wavelength of light).
The typical sensor is a Bayer Array, detecting red, (2) green and blue light, per each sub-pixel, by filtering out everything else. The relative intensity they'll see from the sun will be vastly lower than the intensity they'll see from a laser light.
Furthermore, the "damage" in the OP's sensor is not the same kind of damage found from the lasers. The lasers will take out an entire line in the sensor, not a local area. They'll also destroy the line's ability to capture light-data, not just reduce it to a slightly darkened spot.
My vote is still dust, but I haven't taken a picture of the sun just yet.
silversx80 said:
My vote is still dust, but I haven't taken a picture of the sun just yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll say it again: Before taking picture, no spot. After taking picture, spot in the exact same place as the sun in the picture. I don't see why you're in denial about this still.
It's possible maybe my sensor was defective and more susceptible to this damage. But I'm 99.99% sure it was the picture I took. But believe whatever you want.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105386435196828062439/September292011?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Several pics of the sun, on a sunny NC day, around 1:30pm. Pics of a white wall included. Will take pics of a white piece of paper if requested. No spots to speak of.
---------- Post added at 01:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------
WhiteZero said:
I'll say it again: Before taking picture, no spot. After taking picture, spot in the exact same place as the sun in the picture. I don't see why you're in denial about this still.
It's possible maybe my sensor was defective and more susceptible to this damage. But I'm 99.99% sure it was the picture I took. But believe whatever you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying it isn't possible, but I am saying it's highly unlikely and damage to sensors from light yielded dramatically different symptoms in my experience.
The spot is there. As an avid photographer playing on my experience with light sensors in the past, I'm more inclined to believe it's dust.

One X focus issue

I have tried different roms/kernels what not. But i wasn't able to resolve this issue. Camera seems to be fine outdoors. But while I am taking pictures of something close, The camera doesn't focus at all. What so ever. Tried different apps/settings. I bought a unlocked phone from taiwan. It doesn't have warranty in India. So, warranty is out of question.
I am including couple of sample images. Can you guys please help me figure out whats going on?
Thank you, guys.
first of all , i love the view of from your window . I have the same issue as you , but not all the time with closed objects , also when i try to scan the qr code of airdroid it doesn't work no idea why , i have to log on to see my phone (which is fine ) , but as you said i find a focus problem at me too. Try to reset camera to default , worked for me :-??
I did that. But no result.
and another doubt, If it is a hardware issue, how come pictures are good when it is out doors?
vamsi_krishna said:
I did that. But no result.
and another doubt, If it is a hardware issue, how come pictures are good when it is out doors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you looked at the camera lens cover? Smudges and scratches can screw with focal range depending on at what focal distance the mark becomes visible to the sensor.
Smartphone and P&S cameras use exposure-based autofocus systems. As the AF drops focal distance a lens defect can begin to creep into it's focal range, distorting it's ability to gauge proper exposure and therefore focus is off.
Tigerlight said:
Have you looked at the camera lens cover? Smudges and scratches can screw with focal range depending on at what focal distance the mark becomes visible to the sensor.
Smartphone and P&S cameras use exposure-based autofocus systems. As the AF drops focal distance a lens defect can begin to creep into it's focal range, distorting it's ability to gauge proper exposure and therefore focus is off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked the camera glass. It is squeaky clean.
vamsi_krishna said:
I checked the camera glass. It is squeaky clean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You on Sense or AOSP?
Tigerlight said:
You on Sense or AOSP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now on Viper 3.7.9
vamsi_krishna said:
Now on Viper 3.7.9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you pan around and stop does the camera attempt to autofocus? Or is it constantly at the same focal distance?
NO, it is not trying to autofous. Focus seems to be fixed. It is adjusting brightness though.
I found myself exactly in the same kind of situation one day. After a few experiments I realized that camera focusing mechanism is no longer working and probably because I had dropped the phone few days earlier. I can still manipulate focus between infinity or macro by tapping the phone quite hard but not too hard. It's working, because of the lens in front of the sensor can move freely. So tapping phones back moves lens away from sensor and you can shoot close ups, tapping front on the screen (just be carful) moves lens closer to sensor and you get infinity focus.
Just ordered new replacement camera. Let's see how that goes.
I hope I made any sense.
hawk728 said:
I found myself exactly in the same kind of situation one day. After a few experiments I realized that camera focusing mechanism is no longer working and probably because I had dropped the phone few days earlier. I can still manipulate focus between infinity or macro by tapping the phone quite hard but not too hard. It's working, because of the lens in front of the sensor can move freely. So tapping phones back moves lens away from sensor and you can shoot close ups, tapping front on the screen (just be carful) moves lens closer to sensor and you get infinity focus.
Just ordered new replacement camera. Let's see how that goes.
I hope I made any sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats it. That did it. Now I can do macros.
Felling good after figuring out what is wrong. But its awful to know that I have a hardware issue. I didn't dropped the phone even once. I am taking care of it like it is a baby. I got the phone couple of weeks go. Damn. How much will the replacement cost. approximately?
vamsi_krishna said:
Thats it. That did it. Now I can do macros.
Felling good after figuring out what is wrong. But its awful to know that I have a hardware issue. I didn't dropped the phone even once. I am taking care of it like it is a baby. I got the phone couple of weeks go. Damn. How much will the replacement cost. approximately?
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Well, if it's a new phone then it should go under warranty and shop or authorized service center will probably fix it for free. In my case the phone is no longer under a warranty and I will replace camera myself. Found one in e-bay. There are quite a lot of options. Wheater those are real deals and will the camera be the model that fits remains to be seen when I get mine this week. I will deffinitely post my experience replacing the camera.
The phone is not under warranty. Will take it to local HTC service center and will enquire about the possibilities.
having the same issue on different roms
As promised here is my experience with camera replacement. Few people in this forum have have shared their experience with replacement cameras and mainly those have been not good since they got wrong camera module. It's actually quite a bit gamble, when you buy camera module from eBay, because many sellers don't actually post correct specs and you really don't know what you are getting. For example, HOX+ camera does not work correctly on HOX. Maybe some models do but you never know.
I was lucky and the module I got http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130968093640 was right one and I must say that probably my original camera was a bit faulty since day one, because I never got this kind of quality as I do now.
Word of caution though, taking HOX apart is really quite tedious and delicate job. Specially when you need to remove also the motherboard. So find and study instructions on this forum and on Youtube before you are going to attempt to do it on your own.

Initial Camera Observations

Had my first day out with the V30 yesterday and just imported the photos and videos from it to my laptop for a closer look to make some initial evaluations. With some very interesting things to note and a lot to dig into further. There's definitely some realities that need to be addressed to better manage expectations.
1) I have no f'n clue what the HDR setting is doing other than making crappy photos. Which is about the same as it was on the V20. It's completely the opposite of what it was on the Nexus 6. On the Nexus 6, if you wanted the best photos out of the Google Camera you could get, you turned on HDR and forgot about it. With LG's Camera app, it's the exact opposite. Turn it off and forget it was ever there.
I still need to figure out the mess that the Google Camera app port has become and DL a copy and see how it does with this sensor.
2) If you shoot manual, there's a noise reduction on/off switch now. Unless you have some decent NR software though or know what you want to do with grainy photos (and I think it will have its uses, I just have to find the right subject), leave it on in very low light conditions. Not only does it tame grainy noise, it also tames a bit of purple fringe that will show up in high gain (high ISO) photos once the electronics start heating up around it.
3) As to that last part of #2: We have to be realistic here. This is a tiny cellphone camera packed in with A LOT of other electronics. If you're shooting several shots in a row or long exposures, either in dark conditions at high ISO, you will see amp glow or purple fringing. It's just a reality. Even DSLRs see it.
4) Digital zoom is digital zoom. If you aren't using just the standard view of each sensor, then you are going to see the limitations of a small sensor. I don't care what cellphone you're using. None of my larger/dedicated cameras have it for many good reasons. You shouldn't expect miracles from a smaller camera.
5) The wide angle sensor actually takes pretty good shots now in most conditions! The wide angle camera on the V20 was full of so many compromises that I avoided it at all costs. If I wanted a wider view than the standard lens, I would use the pano setting on the standard lens. Which is still a great option if everything in the frame is going to sit still but it takes time and patience. It still has distortion though, just not as much as before. You can't focus the wide angle in manual mode but you can in auto. Weird. It doesn't like to focus pointing directly overhead. That was hit or miss. Same rules about the NR and HDR apply here.
6) Video AF in low low light does miss sometimes. Again, just remember this phone doesn't have all the high end AF sensors that some DSLRs have to make sure focus is nailed every single time. Somewhere there's an article about the useful range of all the AF systems on the V20, I assume it still applies to the V30. I'll dig it up if I can to help manage expectations. If I remember right, laser AF is short range, maybe 7 feet.
7) During my import of files from my phone to my laptop, some of my videos lost their audio tracks. Not sure what that's about. I don't remember which ones were auto and which ones were manual but I suspect that's the problem. All videos have sound on my phone though.
8) I suck at video. Kinda hoping to kick myself in the rear with this phone and learn more about it. There's a lot more to manage and I probably won't be happy until I figure out the whole color grading thing and get the look I want. So the log file option ought to be a nice addition.
9) I remember telling someone that I swear I saw a video somewhere of a pre-unit that had the directional mics settings in manual video. Well, I can tell you that I must have imagined that because the unit I have does not have that setting. Just sliders and windcut.
10) And I don't know where LG is hiding it but I don't see 240 fps in any settings anywhere. The fastest video setting I see is 120fps. (Remember, only at 720p) I'm guessing 240 fps is reserved for the slo-mo mode and not available in manual or auto video modes.
11) Selfie camera. Yeah, I've seen the complaints. Are you sure your ugly mugs aren't breaking the camera? I posted this in the first impressions thread and I'll post it here. First thing I suggest doing is turning down the "skin toning" and skin lighting settings. Whoever renamed skin smoothing to skin toning should be shot as that's not what I thought that setting was at all. My first thought is that it adjusted the white balance of the skin to give you a rosier glow. Nope. Skin toning will butter face the heck out of you even on basics settings. Set it to zero. After that, the image held up well to some post processing and consistently gave me selfies I actually like. They actually remind me of something that might come from..... film.
I'm going to do some more shooting today and I'll try to figure out how to post examples without making you all click through to some other site. I also need to figure out how to get the videos over sound and all so I can give them honest assessments.
Ah, I just remembered something else to look out for.
12) If you shoot in manual and have the RAW option turned on, it isn't like on a real camera where you get the RAW file and a processed version of the RAW file. It shoots two photos. This does two things. One, it means you will see lag as it is shooting two photos for each press. This gets worse with longer shutter speeds. Two, this means unless you're shooting a still life that the RAW and JPG will not match. If you're shooting action like I was last night, you will get two completely different photos.
Interesting. Thanks for you observations.
I'm a pixel owner and I love the camera. It's ace. I really want to like the v30, but so far the real world observations and initial reviews haven't sung the praises of the camera. Are you happy with the camera or is it not worth the hype?
The camera is better than the V20 and I liked that a lot. Here's the issue in a nut shell. This phone is for those that aren't happy to just let the device to everything for you like an Apple product would. If that's what you want, that's what Pixels are about. Pixel is Google's iPhone. If you want control over the creative process, that's why the V's exist. The V series is more akin to using a DSLR and Pixels are more like a point and shoot. The Pixel series they're kinda hoping you're ok with whatever the phone spits out. The V series you tweak the initial settings and decide what the phone is even going to shoot so you can tweak it more to your liking later. The V30 gives us even more control than the V20 does.
CHH2 said:
The camera is better than the V20 and I liked that a lot. Here's the issue in a nut shell. This phone is for those that aren't happy to just let the device to everything for you like an Apple product would. If that's what you want, that's what Pixels are about. Pixel is Google's iPhone. If you want control over the creative process, that's why the V's exist. The V series is more akin to using a DSLR and Pixels are more like a point and shoot. The Pixel series they're kinda hoping you're ok with whatever the phone spits out. The V series you tweak the initial settings and decide what the phone is even going to shoot so you can tweak it more to your liking later. The V30 gives us even more control than the V20 does.
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Interesting. Thanks for the summary
I would like to but V30, all because camera. But I don't know is this camera one of the best in 2017 or it is just average camera. I see many bad comments on internet. And is front face camera really bad?
isko01 said:
I would like to but V30, all because camera. But I don't know is this camera one of the best in 2017 or it is just average camera. I see many bad comments on internet. And is front face camera really bad?
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I probably still have a few more days of testing but just based off of what I've seen in my standardized shooting at the museum, LG has pulled off a miracle with this tiny little sensor.
Like I said above, you have to have realistic expectations and know what the limits are of your gear. That's what a really good photographer does though. They know how the gear works and how to use what it does but also know when it's time to use something else or accept not getting a shot.
This is a tiny sensor. The largest sensor on this whole phone is only 1/3.09". It's smaller than the main one on the V20 but it looks better. That in itself is amazing but I'm not expecting a sensor that's 1/3 the size of the sensor of my smallest camera to match it. Yet that's what some people seem to expect . Which is asinine.
Really the only "failing" I had yesterday was trying to shoot overhead in extremely dark conditions with the wide angle camera and shooting performers wearing all black on an outdoor stage in the dark with just stage lighting (which was changing colors constantly) while moving around quickly. Neither of those surprised me at all. The second condition really is the realm of DSLRs still. The first one, I'm ok with too. That said, what I did get from the second condition, I'm still surprised with.
I've only had one day with it but I think I'm going to get some surprising images out of this camera. Now to teach myself more about video editing.
And again, about the front camera. Once you set those stupid settings to the bottom, you can get more skin detail out of a photo than most people would like to see. Every crease and furrow in my brow line and forehead ,pock mark in my nose, and hairs on my head and beard. From shooting models, I can tell you a lot of people wouldn't want to see that level of detail on their face. So I have no idea what people are complaining about. It's an f'n vanity camera that most people wouldn't want to use to its full potential.
Uploaded a couple of shots. All shots are my normal workflow with a cellphone camera. Shot with the V30 and the jpegs processed in Snapseed. First one is shot with the main camera overhead in a room not known for being well lit at the museum I used to work at. In fact the only real lighting is from some LEDs in the pearl at center. The LEDs are designed to be very soft so they don't degrade the paint and woodwork. The other two shots are selfies taken with indirect sunlight being the only light source indoors. The one with back background is indirect sun through clear glass. The one with the light background is indirect sunlight through very milky glass.
Main camera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36870848874/
Dark background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37322765870/
Light background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/23728950428/
Seriously, I'm not sure I'd really want more detail than that. I'm actually quite please with how all of these images turned out so far. I'll try to work up some more shots from the main and wides.
Can you post some pics in a room at night with just a lamp on or something in auto mode?
EVOme said:
Can you post some pics in a room at night with just a lamp on or something in auto mode?
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I'll have to see what I can set up. That's not really a normal shot I have set-up or sitting around. I might be able to do something at work tomorrow before everyone else gets in and the whole place is blasted with light. Unfortunately, I no longer work at the museum but I might be able to make something work.
isko01 said:
I would like to but V30, all because camera. But I don't know is this camera one of the best in 2017 or it is just average camera. I see many bad comments on internet.
And is front face camera really bad?
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I'm not hijacking this thread, but you asked a specific question. There's another thread where the camera is discussed, along with other features, and @keithleger took all his in "auto" mode, to compare the two V30 back cameras, and he also compared it to the Note 8 camera which he's decided to sell.
Camera
-Excellent camera but not on par with Pixel line or Samsung. Don't get me wrong, it is a great camera and in the sunlight it is fantastic but low light it does not do as well as Note 8. Video or Stills. But it is very adequate for my needs and I prefer having the wide-angle lens over the zoom lens any day.
-The one thing that really bothered me was shutter lag at times. Sometimes when I snapped a photo it was almost instant and others I had to wait a second or so. Long enough to think I might not of pressed the button. Not sure if others have had this issue but it is troublesome. It was not isolated to taking multiple photos fairly quickly either. Sometimes first shot.
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However, he's selling the Note 8 to keep the LG V30.
He posted an album of his first weekend pictures, as well as the comparison shots to the Note 8. The V30 outside shots look FANTASTIC, and even though the Note 8seemed to do better indoors the LG V30 won at least one of the indoor shots, in my opinion.
As for selfies, he gives the same advice as @CHH2.. Turn off the enhancemet crap on the selfie camera.
keithleger said:
For selfies, if you set the skin tone and lighting effects to 0 then it is ok.
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CHH2 said:
Selfie camera. . First thing I suggest doing is turning down the "skin toning" and skin lighting settings.
Skin toning will butter face the heck out of you even on basics settings. Set it to zero.
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See, they say the same thing. The only reason I'm mentioning the other thread -- and I do not mean to hijack @CHH2 camera thread -- is because @keithleger has direct comparisons to the Note 8 camera was well as the f/1.6 and wide angle cameras on the V30. Plus he only shot in auto, and didn't do any post processing (to my knowledge).
I appreciate all the work @CHH2 has put into this thread!
CHH2 said:
I'll have to see what I can set up. That's not really a normal shot I have set-up or sitting around. I might be able to do something at work tomorrow before everyone else gets in and the whole place is blasted with light. Unfortunately, I no longer work at the museum but I might be able to make something work.
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Thanks! You don't have to go out of your way. I will have my phone tomorrow.
EVOme said:
Thanks! You don't have to go out of your way. I will have my phone tomorrow.
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I shot this real quick this morning. It's completely SOOC. Yes, you might notice something rather odd and be asking yourself, "Why didn't he rotate the image?" Well, I didn't rotate it because on my phone the image is upright and correct. Somewhere between the phone and Flickr, it got rotated. I'll be deleting this one at the end of today as it's not really something I'd normally shoot even as a reminder or novelty.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36882784984/
And just because I got lucky this morning, a little close up:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37593620881/
Going to add one more photo. This one shot in probably one of the most challenging places to shoot, a jazz club. This is probably the cleanest shot I've taken in there with a cellphone. I'm impressed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36883443574/
CHH2 said:
I shot this real quick this morning. It's completely SOOC. Yes, you might notice something rather odd and be asking yourself, "Why didn't he rotate the image?" Well, I didn't rotate it because on my phone the image is upright and correct. Somewhere between the phone and Flickr, it got rotated. I'll be deleting this one at the end of today as it's not really something I'd normally shoot even as a reminder or novelty.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36882784984/
And just because I got lucky this morning, a little close up:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37593620881/
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Wow man! I have restored faith in the camera. That office shot is very sharp. For the grasshopper, are you using one of the installed filters or is a post render?
Thank you for taking those.
EVOme said:
Wow man! I have restored faith in the camera. That office shot is very sharp. For the grasshopper, are you using one of the installed filters or is a post render?
Thank you for taking those.
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You're welcome. For photos, I never use the filters in the camera apps. I always use Snapseed. It has a lot more control and much more power once you learn how to apply the various filters in combination. The grasshopper only had typical post processing that most photographers would apply; a tad sharpening that is only really noticeable when zoomed in, B&W conversion, bump in contrast, and a bump in shadows to make them a tad darker. Oh, and a crop, maybe threw away a little more than half the overall pixels from the frame as I didn't want to scare it off.
And yeah, for being such a tiny sensor, I'm impressed with the low light shooting. I still want to try shooting in the basement of the jazz club. That's usually territory that I need at least my smaller dedicated camera if not my DSLR. I won't get to try that again until this next weekend.
Decided to try something a little different. This isn't final by any means but this shows what playing around for a couple of minutes in Snapseed with just a couple quick shots can get you: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37605204891/
Looking forward to showing this to my curator friend and watching him fall off of his barstool when I tell him it was all done on one cellphone in under five minutes. (He's pretty much a film guy as is the guy who is the inspiration for this photo. Bonus points if you can name the photographer I'm copying for this photo.)
Main camera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36870848874/
Dark background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37322765870/
Light background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/23728950428/
.[/QUOTE]
What camera was used for those selfies? I'm not a fan of selfies but love the ones you've taken. I'd like to experiment with it and my fiance would too.thank you. Btw love you test album. Talent for sure
lg3FTW said:
Main camera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/36870848874/
Dark background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/37322765870/
Light background selfie cam: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/23728950428/
.
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What camera was used for those selfies? I'm not a fan of selfies but love the ones you've taken. I'd like to experiment with it and my fiance would too.thank you. Btw love you test album. Talent for sure[/QUOTE]
I used the front selfie camera with all of those silly settings at the bottom of the frame turned off, set to zero, whatever their values are. Then I just did some quick processing in Snapseed. That's pretty much it. I don't get too complex. And thank you.
Finally figured out a work around so I can hear the audio on the videos I'm importing from the phone to my laptop and can't believe I didn't think of this before. Pulled the videos from their folder over into an empty Chrome browser window and Voila! they played complete with their soundtrack!
So the following is from shooting in a dark jazz club. (Notes, not footage yet. I'll try uploading something to youtube when I figure out what, when, and how.)
Probably the most important observation I see about video from the V30 (and this actually applied to the V20 too) is that loud music can end up jostling the OIS and introduce more shake than it removes.
Another observation is that recording video while in Auto mode, you better make sure you have plenty of somewhat decent light. Tonight while playing around, the screen would be plenty bright all the way up until I hit that little red record button. Then the screen squeezes down and went dark enough that the footage was unusable. Shooting in manual video mode, I was able to get some footage. It wasn't exactly ideal settings that I was shooting with though so the footage is so-so. (Best settings I could get were ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/25. My understanding is that since I had my frame rate at 24fps, I should have had a shutter speed of 1/50 but that just wasn't happening inside that place.)
In manual video mode, it really doesn't like ISO 3200 for some reason. I'd play with a setting and come back and the ISO would be set to 3150 for some reason. I'd bump it back up to 3200, go do something else, come back to 3150. I would have to make sure that's the last thing I tweaked before hitting the record button.
The audio picks up pretty much all the sounds I'm hearing. I need to sit down with headphones and see if there's extra noise being introduced. I suspect dragging the videos into the Chrome browser is exactly the best quality test. It just lets me know the audio tracks are intact in the file which I was a little worried about at first.
I still have a lot more playing around with the video as most of it is new to me.

Subtle purple edge tint in very low light? (S20+)

Anybody else noticing an extremely subtle light purple-ish haze on the edges of extremely low light photos - i.e. where the dark/black areas are in a low light photo around the edges?
It's subtle. It's a reach to see it at times. But this is an expensive phone, so I'm going to nitpick... It reminds me of the old issues with the HTC One M7 and some older Motorola devices, though on a much more subtle level. I'm probably crazy, but I know I'm seeing it at times.
Snapdragon S20+ here (Verizon variant)
Ok, so I realize it would've helped my first post with some photos and additional info. Please keep in mind, I love the camera on this phone 90% of the time, but this 10% is an issue that reminds me of the old days (per my first post). I have two sets of photos... First are the originals, uploaded, and added into Photoshop with a black "frame" to help you see the haze better. The second set is a photo from my iPhone of what those photos look like on my S20's screen. Reality lies somewhere in between the two. The second set over-emphasizes more than what I see on the screen, and the first set mutes it too much. These photos are night mode photos, which I realized after my first post helps to accentuate and show the issue.
Ultimately the problem seems to be how the software and/or sensor are handling the extremes when you have a bright light source as the focal point, and dark outer edges (again, reminiscent of oooold devices). Anyway, the photos are attached. Hopefully that help clarifies it a bit more. It's nitpicky, as there aren't many scenarios where this would come up. But it's a $1k+ phone... I feel like I'm allowed to be nitpicky.
Is it always on the left side of the phone screen? i.e. always on the top of the phone? or does it change to either side when you rotate the phone (could be on the top or bottom sides)? I have not observed this purple thint issue, but your third photo shows that it is extremely bad.
Sleepycat3 said:
Is it always on the left side of the phone screen? i.e. always on the top of the phone? or does it change to either side when you rotate the phone (could be on the top or bottom sides)? I have not observed this purple thint issue, but your third photo shows that it is extremely bad.
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No, it's more pronounced on the left there due to the lighting in that situation. But if you look at the fourth picture you can see it's relatively even on both sides where things start to darken.
jntdroid said:
No, it's more pronounced on the left there due to the lighting in that situation. But if you look at the fourth picture you can see it's relatively even on both sides where things start to darken.
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I'm not saying it's normal, I too suffered from the HTC M7 syndrome but in those specific photos, is the purple haze coming from a TV light on your left? Is there any tv screen running when you took the pictures?
Tabtoub said:
I'm not saying it's normal, I too suffered from the HTC M7 syndrome but in those specific photos, is the purple haze coming from a TV light on your left? Is there any tv screen running when you took the pictures?
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No - no TV's on anywhere. The purple haze is coming from the especially dark areas.
Just checked on mine s20+ exynos, other than very minor green tint no issues, if i were you i would replace it asap - something isnt right
Klopers33 said:
Just checked on mine s20+ exynos, other than very minor green tint no issues, if i were you i would replace it asap - something isnt right
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I bought an unlocked S20 (+ was too large for me anyway) and tested it last night in the exact same spot and exact same scenario, and very little haze at all with no purple. I can see what it's trying to do - it's trying to lighten up those darker areas, but for some reason on that S20+ it was making it purple-ish and just plane ugly. It doesn't look "great" on the regular S20, but it's at least not purple and clearly just trying to lighten it up. S20+ is already on its way back for the return.

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